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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Effects of Topology Optimization in Multimaterial 3D

Bioprinting of Soft Actuators

Ali Zolfagharian *, Martin Denk , Abbas Z. Kouzani , Mahdi Bodaghi ,
1
2
3
1
Saeid Nahavandi , Akif Kaynak 4
4
1 School of Engineering, Deakin University, Geelong 3216, Australia
2 Institute for Material and Building Research, Munich University of Applied Sciences, Munich, 80335, Germany
3 Department of Engineering, School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, NG11 8NS,
United Kingdom
4 Institute for Intelligent Systems Research and Innovation (IISRI), Deakin University, Geelong, 3216, Australia

Abstract: Recently, there has been a proliferation of soft robots and actuators that exhibit improved capabilities and adaptability
through three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting. Flexibility and shape recovery attributes of stimuli-responsive polymers as the
main components in the production of these dynamic structures enable soft manipulations in fragile environments, with
potential applications in biomedical and food sectors. Topology optimization (TO), when used in conjunction with 3D
bioprinting with optimal design features, offers new capabilities for efficient performance in compliant mechanisms. In this
paper, multimaterial TO analysis is used to improve and control the bending performance of a bioprinted soft actuator with
electrolytic stimulation. The multimaterial actuator performance is evaluated by the amplitude and rate of bending motion
and compared with the single material printed actuator. The results demonstrated the efficacy of multimaterial 3D bioprinting
optimization for the rate of actuation and bending.

Keywords: Multimaterial, Three-dimensional bioprinting, Topology optimization, Soft actuator, Soft robot

*Corresponding Author: Ali Zolfagharian, School of Engineering, Deakin University, Geelong, 3216, Australia; a.zolfagharian@deakin.edu.au
Received: February 17, 2020; Accepted: March 17, 2020; Published Online: April 10, 2020
Citation: Zolfagharian A, Denk M, Kouzani AZ, et al., 2020, Effects of Topology Optimization in Multimaterial 3D
Bioprinting of Soft Actuators, Int J Bioprint, 6(2):260. DOI: org/10.18063/ijb.v6i2.260.

1 Introduction in the additive manufacturing and research
in responsive materials [3,4] . Printing in layers
Manufacturing in robotics has become easier permits variation of mechanical properties
with the introduction of three-dimensional (3D) across the cross section by appropriate variation
printing, enabling processing of key components of layering materials with different mechanical
in a single step, thus circumventing separate and thermal properties . Furthermore, instead
[5]
manufacturing and assembly processes . The of solid infill, the 3D printing process allows
[1]
emergence of soft robotics accompanied by printing of porous layers which may improve
the advancements in additive manufacturing flexibility and bending amplitude of the resulting
enabled design and production of creative composites . The adoption of machine learning-
[6]
soft robots that are capable of handling fragile based design in 3D printing of composite
objects and accomplishing delicate work . The structures involves practical trials until the
[2]
recent proliferation of four-dimensional-printed desired output is achieved [7-10] . However, the
soft robots stems from both developments non-linear and temperature sensitive behavior of

© 2020 Zolfagharian, et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the
original work is properly cited.
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